Author of

Macaron Tutorial

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Some things are meant to be paired. You know, that cute mug and that lovely tea, cookies and milk, cupcakes and frosting, apple pie and vanilla ice cream, etc.. They are tasty on their own, and we can survive without one or the other, but they make sense together so why pass on the opportunity to have them both, at the same time, together, dunked, dipped, smeared, spooned, and scooped?....

This is what happened the other day with apricot teacakes and cold strawberry mint soup. I had a long night ahead of me and decided to make some tea cakes to help me through hours of file organizing instead of popping open a bag of chips and mindlessly muching my way through the entire bag. Withing 40 minutes or so I had about one dozen dried apricot tea cakes cooling down and we could not resist sampling one. Delicious and satisfying on its own.

That same day I also had become the instant parent of a 6 pound box of strawberries (they are in season right now in the Southern US) and after making ice cream, sorbet, strawberry scones, shortcakes and coulis, I still had about two cups left. That's when the idea of refreshing little shots of strawberry mint soup popped into my head. A mini detoxing shot in the morning to boost creative juices or a light way to end a rich meal. It was a breeze to put together, mixing mint simple syrup and strawberries in a food processor and a delight on its own.

B. said he'd keep me company for a little while and sat at the dining room table with a plate of teacakes and a couple of strawberry soup shots. I was my nose one inch from the screen looking for a file I kept passing when he asked if I was going to blog about these. I said "yes, sure, don't know when though". He added with his mouth full "well, when you do, make sure you blog about them together!". He is a dunker and a spooner. He'll spoon peanut butter or jam on just about anything and dunk just about anything ressembling a cookie or a cake into coffee, tea, or milk. Surprising combinations have taken place but some yummy discoveries have occured that way too so I tend to trust his musings in the kitchen. Hence, you get them both today! Have them as singe items, have them as a tandem, they are the perfect snack break!

Preheat the oven to 350F.Whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, about 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and sour cream. Whisk well and add the flour. Add the dried apricots and mix until incorporated. Divide evenly between muffin tins (or other small molds) coated with cooking spray and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.Cold Strawberry Mint Soup Recipe:

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water and mint and bring to a simmer. Cook for about a minute, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool (it will give the mint time to infuse the syrup).In the meantime, hull and halve the strawberries and place them in a blender or food processor. Once the mint syrup is cooled, process the strawberries, adding the syrup, one tablespoon at a time until the mixture is nice and smooth. The more syrup you add, the thinner your soup will be. Serve in shot glasses.

Lastly, I was psyched to hear from my friend Anita that Tartelette was named one of the world's 50 best food blogs. You can find the whole article here. Wow! I think there is going to be a giveaway here soon to celebrate!! Thank you all for your visits and comments, it is an honor.

seriously, a good 50% of the reason we all love your blog is because of your amazing pics. i can't believe you just threw together these lovely shoots when the tea cakes and soup were meant to be a side note because you had other things going on!

I could live on strawberries... I love them. Actually, I can't wait to be pregnant to have an excuse for asking for them at anytime ;-)But it's not the season here...and it's not going to be for a few months, so I envy you A LOT!

It looks fabulous!! The strawberry soup reminds me of another dessert where fresh stawberries and mint are tossed together with a little honey and served in a nougatine cup with some fresh whipped cream. Mint and strawberries have quite an affinity for one another. Just lovely...When will your book be coming out?? Does it have a title yet?? Happy day to you! I so enjoy your beautiful posts!

Hee! I am totally a dunker. Mostly it's cornbread in gravy or honey, or crackers or bread in chowder or soup... Now, we'll have to see if the same holds for dessert soup (never had one before!) but the combination sounds incredible! :)

Helen, Won't you be my neighbor?! I love strawberrie soup. I will give this one a try. We still have some months before strawberry season hits us. The teacakes look yummy too.I love the fruit picks!! Do you remember where you got them from?Have a golden day! xoxo

oh this post gets me excited for spring! Of course apricot teacakes should always be appropriate, but all the fruitiness and simple lightness in this combo makes me hopeful that the days really are getting longer and the sun is getting warmer.

Helen, my mom makes this for us for breakfast whenever she's in Melbourne! And also avocado soup with chocolate sauce, which may sound funny to you, but where I come from, avocado is used more like a fruit than a vegetable (paired with sweet things).

Congratulations on making it to Times' top 50!! Well deserved!! And I can't believe you guys have strawberries and blackberries this time of the year---just like in Australia---except that you guys are supposed to still be in winter.

Well, it is not unexpected that you made the top 50 :) I am so jealous of your berries. I mean, we can get berries here - but they have nothing in them... YOUR berries are obviously red, sweet, juicy, beautiful. *sigh* Congrats, my dear. Well-deserved. You would be #1 on my list. xxoo

Helen, I decided to pop into this entry to avoid the traffic in the profiterole entry lol.

I know you probably get dozens of awards, but I wanted to pass one onto you because you inspire me so much, not to mention your white chocolate=Meyer lemon souffles received raves when I made it last week :D

The award is here http://lisamichele.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/black-sesame-lace-cookies-or-candy-and-an-award/

It's strawberry season here in Southern California and I happened to have acquired a farm fresh half case of them. So I made this soup. It was delicious. Since I can't follow a recipe to save my life I added a little lime zest to the simple syrup and a wee bit of lemon and rose water to the final soup. It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Even better when I let it sit over night. The flavors blended so beautifully. My brother and his lovely wife loved it as well. They say that something very much like it was served at the Taillevent the night they got engaged. They said it brought back good memories for them. So thank you for such a wonderful and delightfully easy recipe. I will definitely be making this again. I made extra simple syrup so I can make it again.

I just made the strawberry and mint cold soup for guests over the weekend. We loved the taste so much that we used our lavender tea to swish in our cups to get the remaining couple drops. The tea, strawberry and mint flavor was so good that I'm inspired to try to make a granita with those ingredients. Thanks!

Hi, I have only just found your blog...have ignored my family all afternoon. I am now CRAVING something sweet!!! When I saw this photo I fell in love. Where on earth did you get that glass food pick that the strawberry is skewered on? I just HAVE to get some!!!! Will be obsessed for a few more hours yet. Lucky the 8 year old knows how to make toast for dinner!!! LOL just joking. Michelle

Hey, awesome recipe, i am just asking: I dont have muffin tins, so, can i put this in a large baking tin? I think it will be yummy as a cake too. Please answer, i need an answer cause i want to make this for my brother's birthday, which is this week. ^^ Thank you.

Hey,i was wondering if i can put almonds or other instead of apricots? Please answer, i need the answer quick. Thank you. Maybe cherries instead of apricots, or almonds, ground almonds.. i dont know, please tell me